Back in the Kitchen: Quinoa Creation and Comfort Food Bonanza

I pulled into town Monday just as a payloader and sand truck finally rumbled up our street to clear away nearly three feet of snow.  As exhausted as I was from the long road trip (the final leg of which entailed driving through unrelenting, heavy fog for six hours) I was excited to cook up some comfort food for my parents (and get some warm, wholesome nourishment after a day of nibbling on kale chips, a Lara Bar and Barbara's animal cookies in the car).  I kept it simple and whipped up some soba noodles, steamed broccoli and red pepper, maple-glazed tempeh and avocado, all smothered in miso-tahini sauce (tempeh and sauce recipe here: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-brown-rice-bowl-recipes-from-the-kitchn-176915).  The food disappeared before I could take a picture, but since I make some variation of this at least a couple of times a month I'm sure it will show up again in a future post...

The roads around town were still pretty messy in the morning so I decided to put off grocery shopping until later in the day and work with what I had on hand to create lunch:

Mediterranean Quinoa with Roasted Veggies

Ingredients:

1/2 c quinoa 

2/3 c vegetable broth (I like making this with Seitenbacher vegetable broth seasoning powder)

handful of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped coarsely

handful of pine nuts, toasted

olives, sliced (I only had pimento-stuffed green, but kalamata would be better!)

1 15-oz. can white cannellini beans (garbanzo beans would also be good)

2 T olive oil

juice of one small lemon

black pepper to taste

1 bunch broccoli, cut into bite-size florets (and, if possible, peeled and chopped stem)

baby carrots (I had about one cup)

1 large clove or several small cloves garlic, chopped

1 T olive oil

 sea salt

black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Rinse and drain quinoa and place in small saucepan over medium-high heat until most of the water from rinsing evaporates and the quinoa begins to smell a little toasty.  Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Toss in the sun-dried tomatoes, then cover and reduce heat to low.  
3. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until water is absorbed and the quinoa "rings" form (the germ separating from the seed).  Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes, then mix in the beans, olives and pine nuts.
4. While the quinoa is cooking, toss the broccoli, carrots and garlic with 1 T olive oil and sea salt and pepper to taste.  Spread on a rimmed baking sheet (I like to line this with parchment paper to ease clean-up!) and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes.  The broccoli florets should be very slightly charred in a few spots and the carrots should be tender.
5. In a small bowl or measuring cup use a fork to blend the 2 T olive oil, lemon juice and pepper until emulsified.  Pour the dressing over the quinoa mixture and stir until well-blended.  
6. I then mixed in the roasted veggies but this would be just as good with the veggies served on the side or on top of the quinoa mixture.  

Notes: 

• I used whatever veggies were in the crisper, but the possibilities are endless...red peppers, zucchini and yellow squash, eggplant, asparagus, even winter squash would all be excellent in place of the broccoli and carrots (roasting time would just have to be adjusted accordingly).
• This made enough for several lunch portions; I prefer to heat the leftovers since I'm not a fan of cold foods during winter, but I think this dish would be just as tasty served straight from the fridge or at room temperature.

For dinner I was excited to make this hearty meal that I had seen posted on the Healthy.Happy.Life blog while I was on vacation:

 Rustic Tomato Rice Kale Stew. Comfort Soup. Oil-free.

I made some modifications to the original-- collards instead of kale (very slim greens selection at the local supermarket post-blizzard!), shelled edamame instead of frozen peas and carrots, and homemade chipotle sausage (using this recipe with mashed sweet potato instead of the beans, since I forgot to get them and didn't feel like braving the narrow, snowy streets again!).  This warmed me up from the inside (and cleared out my sinuses-- I am not shy with the spices!) and is definitely a keeper.